American journal of preventive medicine
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Increased attention has been focused on health disparities among racial/ethnic groups in the U.S. ⋯ Findings indicate overall decreases in racial/ethnic disparities in AIDS diagnoses except in young men, particularly young black men aged 13-24 years where the burden of AIDS is increasing. HIV testing, prevention, treatment and policy-making should be a priority for this group.
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The Community Preventive Services Task Force concludes there is insufficient evidence to determine the effectiveness of stand-alone mass media campaigns to increase physical activity at the population level. Additional research is needed to determine effectiveness.
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Antismoking campaigns can be effective in promoting cessation, but less is known about the dose of advertising related to behavioral change among adult smokers, which types of messages are most effective, and effects on populations disproportionately affected by tobacco use. ⋯ Strongly emotional and graphic antismoking advertisements are effective in increasing population-level quit attempts among adult smokers.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Social media-delivered sexual health intervention: a cluster randomized controlled trial.
Youth are using social media regularly and represent a group facing substantial risk for sexually transmitted infection (STI). Although there is evidence that the Internet can be used effectively in supporting healthy sexual behavior, this has not yet extended to social networking sites. ⋯ Social networking sites may be venues for efficacious health education interventions. More work is needed to understand what elements of social media are compelling, how network membership influences effects, and whether linking social media to clinical and social services can be beneficial.
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Melanoma is the most deadly form of skin cancer and an important public health concern. Given the substantial health burden associated with melanoma, it is important to examine the economic costs associated with its treatment. The purpose of the current study was to systematically review the literature on the direct medical care costs of melanoma. ⋯ Melanoma leads to substantial direct medical care costs, with estimates varying widely because of the heterogeneity across studies in terms of the study setting, populations studied, costing approach, and study methods. Melanoma treatment costs varied by phase of care and stage at diagnoses; costs were highest among patients diagnosed with late-stage disease and in the initial and terminal phases of care. Aggregate treatment costs were generally highest in the outpatient/office-based setting; per-patient/per-case treatment costs were highest in the hospital inpatient setting. Given the substantial costs of treating melanoma, public health strategies should include efforts to enhance both primary prevention (reduction of ultraviolet light exposure) and secondary prevention (earlier detection) of melanoma.